Walter Kelley

Who is Walter Kelley?

Walter DeKalb Kelley, Jr. is an American jurist who has served as federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from August 2004 to May 2008.

A native of Virginia's second-largest city, Norfolk, Walter Kelley received in 1977 a B.A. from Washington and Lee University and remained at the Washington and Lee University Law School, where he earned a J.D. in 1981. He was a law clerk in New York City to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Justice Ellsworth Van Graafeiland from 1981 to 1982 and then entered private practice in Norfolk, remaining from 1982 to 2004. In 2003 he served as adjunct professor of law, Regent University.

On October 31, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Kelley to the U.S. District Court seat vacated by Henry C. Morgan. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 23, 2004, and received his commission on August 16, 2004. In 2007, he was among several lawyers and jurists recommended by the Virginia Bar Association for two open Virginia seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

On February 11, 2008, Kelley announced that he would resign from the bench, explaining in a follow-up interview that "I don't so much enjoy the day-to-day drugs and guns and immigration cases that make up much of our docket...." His resignation took effect on May 16 and he subsequently joined the Washington, D.C. offices of the worldwide law firm Jones Day.